


Don't worry

by Beowolf



Category: Wolf's Rain
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28959816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beowolf/pseuds/Beowolf
Summary: School and life finally take its toll on Kiba. Tsume tries to help the best he can.
Relationships: Kiba and Tsume
Kudos: 1





	Don't worry

The house was quiet this afternoon. Tsume had been taking care of some chores. He had been a little bored today, which was funny because it was his day off. Sure he should have been enjoying himself, but he couldn’t help but feel a little stir crazy. Maybe he could run out to starbucks later and get some drinks for the house. Everyone else was doing their own thing. Hige was out tending to the yard. Perhaps Tsume should join him later, or at the very least step out of the house for a bit. Toboe was playing a game downstairs, trying to get past a section he had been stuck at for a while and from the few curse words he had heard slip from the youngest one’s lips, it appeared he wasn’t making much progress. 

Tsume would have glared at him but he couldn’t help but chuckle. Normally Kiba would have admonished him or shot him his signature glare. Speaking of which… where was Kiba? Tsume paused for a minute, realizing he hadn’t seen Kiba all day. Heading back upstairs after the laundry was taken care of Tsume went to the living room. 

“Hey Toboe?” 

“Hm? What’s up?” Toboe paused his game and looked up to his brother.

“You know where Kiba is?” 

“Uh- I think he was in his room working on stuff. His prrofessor threw another assignment at him.” 

“What another twenty?” Tsume joked. In all seriousness though ever since covid hit and Kiba had to go online for school all his teachers just decided to throw three times the work at him. Tsume wished they didn’t. Even if he knew his younger brother was practically a warrior, he too had his limits. 

“Yeah something like that. Can’t say he looked too thrilled.” Toboe snorted. 

“And you didn’t stay with him?” 

“Nah, he said he just needed some space for a bit.” Toboe replied. Tsume raised a brow. Not that it was out of the ordinary, but normally Toboe and Kiba were pretty inseparable, despite the age difference between the. The pair hung out a lot together in the older one’s room, either doing homework, drawing or whatever else. 

“Huh. Well he’ll be down soon and we can throw on a movie or whatever.” Tsume noted. 

“Sounds cool. Just as soon as I get past this part in my game.” 

“You mean the boss you keep dying at?” Toboe let out a groan. 

“Heh, well don’t worry you’ll get him.” And then the lynel fried Link yet again, with his shock arrows, “Third time’s the charm?” 

“… more like tenth time. I’ve been counting.” Toboe muttered. Tsume grinned and ruffled Toboe’s hair. A while passed by. At this point Hige had come in and taken a shower, then he and Toboe hung out for a bit playing some Zelda. The day slowly shifted to dark and soon they were all settling in for dinner. Everyone except Kiba. 

“Hey, where the college student?” Hige asked, setting the table. 

“He still hasn’t come down?” Tsume inquired, handing Hige some forks. 

“Yeah, I think he’s been in his room all day.” 

At this point Tsume felt a little worried but stayed reasonable. Perhaps Kiba just hadn’t felt like coming down. I mean, everyone has moments like that right? Where they just want to laze around in bed? 

“I’ll go get him-“ 

“No I’ll go, just start serving.” Tsume then made his way upstairs. Once standing in front of Kiba’s door he knocked. 

“Kiba?” Nothing. 

“Kiba? You there? Dinner’s ready.” Still nothing. The eldest one sighed. Now he was getting a little impatient. 

“Kiba?” 

Suddenly he heard the sound of the facet from the bathtub. He stood for a moment, awkwardly, before going down to the bathroom door. 

“Hey Kiba?” 

“… Yes?” Came the tepid response. Tsume raised a brow. 

“Dinner’s ready, spaghetti tonight. Hige made it.” 

“Oh. Uh- I’m not really feeling so good now,” He paused, “Can I eat later?” 

“Yeah, sure. Everything all right?” 

“Yes. Just not… feeling so hot right now.” 

“I’ll keep your plate in the fridge, and you can heat it up later. Kay?” 

“Kay.” 

Nothing else came after that and Tsume went back downstairs. A pair of amber and brown eyes watched him, probably waiting for their fourth person to come. 

“Where’s Kiba?” Toboe asked, mouth full of spaghetti. 

“He’s just grabbing a bath. He’ll be down later.” Though Tsume had trouble believing his words. 

“But he’s been up there all day!” Hige said, “I mean come on, the kid’s probably killing himself over homework or over his newest painting or whatever.” 

“I’m sure he’ll be down, let’s just eat.” Tsume said, though dinner felt pretty a little odd without the fourth brother there. 

The rest of the evening was quiet, and the three boys mostly just sat around watching TV. Toboe worked on some assignments and Hige would step in to help him with whatever equation he was stuck on. Still, Kiba was always the one who did that. And still no sign of him. It almost seemed like he just disappeared. Toboe would look up to the staircase multiple times every now and then, hoping to see his brother/partner come down those stairs. He had been really wanting to show Kiba a new storybook idea he came up with. He already had it all laid out, sketches, concept and all. By this point they were all feeling slightly suspicious. It’d be one thing if Kiba had just decided to stay in his room. But none of them could remember hearing the bathroom door open even once. He was still in there. 

Tsume checked his watch and decided to give it a little longer. But once another half hour went by and when he heard the bathtub being refilled yet again he knew it was time to go and see what was up. A two-hour bath was one thing. But four hours? That was another thing. 

“I’ll be right back.” Tsume said, rising from his spot on the couch. 

“Heh, he’s probably a raisin at this point,” Hige half joked, “All pruney and as such.” Toboe laughed. Heading up the stairs yet again, the two boys conversation eventually grew faint as Tsume went down to the bathroom door. It was all the way at the end of the hall. He knocked. 

“Kiba?” he asked and was only met with silence. The man sighed. 

“Kiba? You okay? You’ve been in there for a really long time now.” Nothing came, not at first. But just the smallest, softest sniffle echoed in the bathroom. It was faint, but it still reached his ears. 

“Kiba?” 

This time an audible sob followed, choked, strangled and full of misery. Worry started to hit Tsume, and without really thinking he grabbed the handle and entered the tiny bathroom. There he found Kiba, a sobbing mess in the tub, face cherry red. He wasn’t even unclothed as his white shirt and blue pants stuck to him. 

The young man panicked and immediately hid his face, though Tsume already saw what he was feeling. The oldest one was still for a moment, not totally sure how to handle this. Seeing Toboe like this probably wouldn’t have had him so alarmed, because Toboe had always been a natural crier. It was just he wasn’t afraid of. But Kiba? Kiba was always calm, the master of zen. Even during the worst times, when they lost their parents, even when they got spilt up for a while, he didn’t cry. He refused too. He always remained strong, unmovable, like a mountain during a storm. 

Tsume could only wonder what brought him to such a state. 

“Hey, hey, what’s going on?” he asked, kneeling by the tub and reaching over for his brother. Instead Kiba jerked away, practically trying to bury himself in the corner of the tub. 

“Kiba? What’s wrong?” Tsume said, trying to stay calm. It was stupid question to ask but he needed to break the ice somehow. The other still sobbed uncontrollably, in fact it now seemed worse since Tsume was here. 

“Kiba.” Tsume said as he reached over to grab to pry his hands away from his face. Kiba only cried harder and tried to push him away, pressing his hands against the other’s chest, almost feebly. 

“Please go away.” His words sure didn’t sound clear, but that’s what it amounted to. 

“Kiba-“ 

“Please just go.” 

“Kiba I’m-“ 

“Just go away!” 

“Kiba.” 

The younger one eventually stilled for a moment, looking up into Tsume’s golden eyes. Kiba’s expression was nothing short of a total wreck. Red face, eyes, puffy, blotchy and endless tears spilling down them. He wasn’t a natural crier (not because it being “non-manly” Tsume would argue Kiba was more in touch with his emotions than he was) but geez, when he wanted too he could really dole out the tears. He must have reached his breaking point. But over what? Tsume reached forward to grasp his shoulders tightly, bringing him closer. 

“I’m right here Kiba. Don’t cry.” Kiba responded by trying to pull away, but Tsume just wasn’t going to have any of that. Maybe he wasn’t the best at comforting others, but he certainly wasn’t going to turn his back on his family when they were suffering. 

“Don’t push me away. I’m not leaving you.” 

At this point the brunette knew he wasn’t going to just sweep this under the rug and fell into his brother’s embrace. They were like that for a moment, Kiba sobbing into Tsume’s shoulder and the other holding him tightly. Tsume only hoped that the boys downstairs hadn’t heard or assumed anything. Finally, after another long moment he eventually pulled back. Kiba looked up at him. He still looked stressed but managed to calm down a little bit. Now he just seemed embarrassed. His cheeks flushed a deep pink as he looked down, avoiding eye contact with the other. 

The older one let out a sigh, “Here, I’ll help you out of the tub.” 

Kiba said nothing, but accepted the others grasp. Tsume hoisted the young man to his feet and out of the tub. His clothes were sopping wet, as the only part of them that remained even somewhat dry was the top of his shirt. 

“Okay, let’s get you to your room, and you get a fresh set of clothes on, okay?” 

Kiba blinked blearily at him but nodded. As he went out into the hall, wet footsteps were left behind. Tsume took a moment to pick up the bathroom, wet washcloths and as such. Exiting the bathroom and down to his brother’s room he saw Kiba sitting on his bed, blankly staring out his window, but in a fresh set of clothes thankfully. It was the Howl’s Moving Castle t-shirt Hige had gotten for him last Christmas. It was Kiba’s favorite Ghibli movie. 

“How you feeling?” Tsume asked, taking seat next to him. 

“… A little better.” 

“Well, a little is good. I’ll bring up dinner to you.” 

“But-“ 

“You’ll feel better if you get something in your stomach,” Tsume said, “And besides you haven’t had anything since this morning.” 

He left the room and went downstairs, hoping that Kiba would at least have a few bites of the dinner. 

“Everything okay?” Hige asked. 

“Yeah, he’s just kinda stressed out right now.” Tsume answered casually. 

“Over school?” 

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. He’s just tired. I’m just gonna microwave his dinner and bring it up to him.” 

For as much as Tsume was trying to play it off as calmly, he knew that neither Hige nor Toboe were buying his story. 

“Hey Tsume?” 

“Hm?” 

“Kiba’s… not like, crying or anything is he?” 

“No. No he’s just tired.” 

“Did he like fail a test or something? Cause if he did then it’s not the end of the world. He can always do make up work right?” 

“Maybe his painting teacher was ragging on him again. He has a bad habit of doing that to the entire class.” Toboe said. 

“Does he?” 

“Yeah, Kiba hates him. But he tries to stay polite and acts like his words don’t bother him. I’m sure they do though. Even if he says they don’t.” 

“Like what?” Hige asked. 

“Like- what?” 

“I mean what does he say?”

“Oh! Like the class isn’t doing enough artistic historical “research”” Toboe gestured, “Or they’re not backing their works with enough content or whatever. Teacher practically bashes their heads with it.” 

Tsume pondered that for a moment. Now that he actually thought about it, Kiba never really talked about his classes to either him or Hige. Or he didn’t mention his art classes anyways. Sure they’d see his progress and all the giant paintings he was working on in his room, or he would give them a loose explanation, but never anything more than that. Tsume couldn’t say he nor Hige were the most artistic people either. To them stuff either just looked cool or beautiful. They had no idea art history was much more extensive than that.

“Well, I guess there always has to be that one professor that’s an ass to everyone,” Hige noted, eyes focused on the character moving on screen, “Hope he isn’t too bothered by it.” 

As soon the meal was heated up, Tsume grabbed a random fork from the drawer then headed upstairs. The spaghetti sort of looked like a red mass but still tasted good, so hopefully Kiba would be hungry enough for it. He entered the other’s room plate in hand and saw Kiba aimlessly scrolling on his phone, perched on his side. 

“Here.” 

“Thanks.” Kiba accepted the plate and began to quietly eat. Tsume pulled up a chair close to him and things were silent for a bit. 

“Why were still wearing your clothes in the tub?” 

“Hm?” Kiba murmured, mouth full of spaghetti. 

“You were fully clothed when I entered.” 

“Oh.” Kiba gulped, “Sometimes when I feel bad it feels nice to be surrounded by water. Or under it. Or, I don’t know. Something like that.” 

“I see.” It wasn’t so much the fact Tsume found it stupid, just that Kiba was so- out of it he didn’t even think to strip first before putting himself in the water. Geez, they may as well have been like Bond and Vesper from Casino Royale. 

“So what’s on your mind?” 

The brunette stiffened and his ice blue eyes darted to the left. 

“It’s- stupid.” He answered. 

“Well, can’t be stupid if you were crying in the bathroom about it. How long were you crying exactly?” 

“Long time.” Kiba replied, clearly embarrassed. He began to feel like a child again. He hadn’t cried that hard since he was ten, maybe younger. His cheeks flooded a bright pink and he began to play with a lock of his hair, a habit he had whenever he was nervous, “I um- sorry. That was, pretty stupid of me to do that.” 

“To what? Get all your feelings out? What’s so stupid about that?” Kiba almost shrunk under his gaze, very much the opposite of his confident, sharp personality. 

“Well I- I didn’t mean to make you worry. Or annoy you.“ 

“Kiba…” 

“I’m sorry. Forget it. This is so stupid. I could have been productive today and instead I wasted my time doing what? Crying?” Kiba sighed putting the plate aside, “Way important things to do than that.” 

“Crying isn’t stupid.” Tsume said, “Who’s filling your head with all these ideas?” 

Kiba glanced back him, then at his lap. “… You did?” 

Tsume almost thought he was joking for a second, but when the other’s still expression didn’t change then it hit him. He could remember when they were growing up, after the loss of their parents Tsume and Hige relied on him a lot. Whether that was picking up Toboe from school, getting him home safely, taking care of whatever chores around the old apartment (and later house) just whatever that needed to be attended to. The boy even picked up a part time job just to help out with bills and stuff but that was cut short when Toboe had to get dragged along with him each time. 

Sure maybe Tsume never explicitly stated that to him, but there were many times Kiba probably needed help, or wasn’t sure what to do like with homework, or if he was in low state. But Tsume only ever answered by going to work. He had to. Lest they lose their home or get split up again. Not one time since then had he ever heard Kiba complain. Now he was starting to wonder if he forced him to grow up. He didn’t mean to. 

“Do I… really make you feel that way?” he asked. 

“No! I mean you- well you- you and Hige are just really busy and- I know you need all the help you can get. You have your own lives too, and I just don’t want to get in the way-“

“Whoa, whoa, okay slow down. Geez, that was case of word vomit there.” 

Kiba snorted, “I must be related to Toboe.” Their youngest brother did have a habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve after all. 

“Sure are. But you two are a lot alike too.” 

“Nah, he’s way nicer than I am.” 

“I think your kinder than you give yourself credit for… Are we gonna continue to dance around the subject Kiba?” 

The other stiffened at the mention of that and took a second to compose himself. 

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I guess I’ve been feeling… weird, for a long while now.” 

“How so?” 

“Just off. Not- myself if that makes any sense. I don’t know. A few weeks ago I woke up just feeling strange and haven’t shaked it since then. I… I try to busy myself with classes, with drawing, just anything but…” 

“But, what?” 

“I don’t know Tsume. I just don’t feel right. I keep having these really terrible thoughts before I go to bed every night. About school, about the future, about everything.” 

“What kind of terrible thoughts?” 

“Stupid stuff. Like thinking I’m not good enough for school, or for what I love. Or for you or anyone else. Or getting stressed out over how many assignments I have. Or just… growing up I guess.” 

“Well, that is stupid. Because you are good enough. You’ve just run into a wall and haven’t found a way past it. But everyone feels like this now and then, so you’re not alone,” Tsume paused, 

“And I get that your tired. I do think your teachers throw too much work at you. I mean- you got a life outside of school don’t you?” 

“Well yeah but-“ 

“You want to do well I get that. But you gotta do stuff to make you feel good too. Like… like talking about your stories with Toboe. He lives for that. He really missed that when you were gone. Hige would try and cheer him up with a story but uh, he didn’t have the same effect you did.” 

It was true. Kiba always told him stories before Toboe went to bed, about anything really, for years, even after Toboe entered middle school despite Kiba teasing him about being old for it. Still, it was their special time together. Kiba smiled. An actual smile this time. 

“Did he? This the first I’m hearing about it.” 

“Yeah, he did. Toboe was pretty sad when his partner was gone. He… really relies on you for a lot things. Just like we do.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Tsume sighed and ran a hand over his head. He was never good at stuff like this, heart to heart and all. He cared; he really did. Just… it was hard to explain it properly without sounding like a mushy fool. 

“We don’t just rely on you for chores and stuff- I didn’t mean for it come off that way. Just- well we missed you too. I know you’re sick of being stuck inside the house but it’s a relief to see you here. All Hige and I need to see is you and Toboe chatting about whatever to start our day. Maybe that sounds kinda stupid, but it puts us at ease.” 

“Really?” 

“Of course. I-“ I love you. Please don’t cry. Please don’t be sad. The deepest depths of his heart said. Tsume sighed. He could never say that. 

“Of course it does.” However, Kiba seemed to know what he was thinking, as a gentle smile graced his face. Tsume felt a slight blush build up in his cheeks. 

“You know you’re more understanding than you give yourself credit for right?” 

“I guess,” Tsume acquiesced, “As soon as we all get our vaccines then you go back up to school. I’m sure you miss Cheza.” Kiba blushed and the older one grinned. 

“Ah, so you do like her.” 

“Shut up.” 

“Well, I’d probably be in love too if someone like you came to my rescue before the creeps got to me.” Almost on command Kiba brushed his fingertips over the scar on his left side. That seemed like forever ago now. 

“So… do you feel any better now?” 

“I feel more at ease. If that answers your question.” 

“It’s a start.” 

“I’m… sorry about-“ 

“Don’t apologize. Let’s just call it even. Just come downstairs and do something with Toboe. He’s dying to show you his newest story idea or whatever. Already got a bunch of sketches done for it and what not.” Tsume said. 

“Sounds good.” Kiba rose from his spot on the couch and grabbed his plate. Tsume sighed. Maybe not all the issues were solved, but at least his younger brother felt a little better.


End file.
